


Two honest liars

by Zikul



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Break Up, Cardassian, Established Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-10
Updated: 2019-08-10
Packaged: 2020-08-14 04:38:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20186392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zikul/pseuds/Zikul
Summary: Doctor Bashir and Garak have an honest argument in the holosuite.





	Two honest liars

“Well, it’s not like I imagined it would be,” Garak confessed as he leaned back in the chair, looking out over the mostly deserted bar, in which they were waiting for goodness knew what.

“You don’t say,” Julian crossed one leg over the other and sipped his drink with some malice, “honestly Garak, I have issues imagining what it is you thought it would be like.”

“Do you, now?” thinning blue eyes turned on the Doctor, some real spite behind them, “You mean to tell me, that even with all of these petty stories of yours, you have no idea what was in it for me? You’re a disappointment tonight.” Julian snorted at that.

“I think I’ve been a disappointment to you for a long time, and that’s why you did it,” he gesticulated with his drink so wildly, that a few drips escaped the edge, “what other reason could there be?”

“Oh  _ please _ , you’re insulting us  _ both _ with this egocentrism of yours. What do you think you are, the main character of one of your infantile stories?” A smug and irate expression crossed the other’s face;

“As a matter of fact, I am. At least in this story,” he spied around the room, seeking for tonight’s chosen antagonists and their lackeys.

“And what a mediocre show at it you are,” sniped Garak, “you can’t even figure out why I indulged a woman, and how it never had anything to do with you. But then, I suppose my mind  _ is _ much more of a mystery to you than this ridiculous spy program of yours -”

“Garak!”

“- you humans, with your ideas of love and passion and tragedy – ah, but no, that would be incredibly rude and xenophobic of me, considering you’re the only one like this, unique amongst men...!” Julian was starting to think there might be some real alcohol in the program, but didn’t indulge Garak in his thoughts on the matter.

“Are you really this upset, or are you exaggerating as usual?” he asked with some annoyance.

“Ah, so that’s what I am to you? Exaggeration? What’s next for me in matter of titles,  _ drama queen? _ ” As to make a point, the Cardassian set his glass down on the table, leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest.

“It was a close second,” Julian reckoned with some edge, “you loved her, then?” he guessed, and Garak seethed with a head shake.

“I wish I could have,” he said coolly, “I tried. It was a win-win situation, Doctor, I let her be seduced by me. To think that there was any naivety left in a girl with her past – but then, I suppose that was the only thing she had, and I used it, and you want to know why? Because I knew it would rub Dukat all the wrong ways. I used her. And there’s nothing more to it. And now she’s dead, and it’s over.”

“You really  _ are _ desperate to maintain this image of you being a terrible person,” Julian countered.

“This is who I  _ am _ . And I wouldn’t necessarily call it  _ terrible _ , for all I know, she was happy for the brief moments we had together, happy to be indulged – it’s your human viewpoint that makes it a terrible act of deceit.”

“She was barely an adult,” Julian shot back, “it was an uneven playing field from the beginning, and you know it.” A long chuckle left Garak at that.

“Oh, Doctor, Doctor, of all the things I’ve done that you choose to judge me on, it’s going to be this?” he rolled his eyes and grimaced, “If I don’t misremember,  _ you _ weren’t much of an adult when I -”

“- that’s  _ incomparable _ -”

“Why?” Challenged Garak, leaning forward in his chair, “Because she was a woman?” Julian’s expression wrinkled to something unimpressed.

“Because a year earlier, she was just a girl. Because she never got the chance to find out who she really was, what she really thought, because you were the only Cardassian aboard, and she desperately needed a mentor. It’s simple psychology,” he stabbed the table with a finger, “attraction happens so easily between a protegee and a mentor, and you took advantage of it.”

“And she  _ loved _ every moment of it,” Garak defended with ire, “her time with me was one of the happiest in her life, and if you’re going to choose  _ this _ kindness of mine to be the  _ one _ thing about me that sets you off -”

“- because you did it now,” Julian cut him short, “you didn’t use her for your games as an agent of the Obsidian Order. Because you did it as a reformed man, as someone I’ve been seeing grow and change, whose convictions have gone a long way since we first met. That’s why it’s different. What you did under the orders of the Order, I understand, I forgive, because you were part of a system that permitted nothing else – but  _ now? _ Using a young woman, barely adult, to get back on a man...? That’s ugly, Garak.”

“And I feel guilty every day,” the Cardassian concluded with a sweet smile and some fast blinking that would’ve looked charming just some years ago, “she died because of my game, Doctor. Damar shot her because she chose me over her father.”

“You’re lying,” Julian observed, “there isn’t a shred of guilt in you.”

“But Doctor!” Garak’s expression shifted to complete shock, “What kind of heartless monster do you think I am?”

“You’ve never been a very good liar. That’s why you exaggerate and act like you’re lying all the time, because you  _ haven’t got _ a poker face.”

“Unlike  _ you _ ,” Garak snarled, “the genetically modified genius.” Silence settled between them for a moment, Julian gnashing his teeth, Garak watching with the anticipation of a predator.

“So,” the Doctor finally started his answer, “ _ that’s _ going to be your opinion of me now.” Garak shrugged.

“It goes very well with your opinion of me,” he threw back, the wounded undertones bleeding through quite vividly.

“The sad thing,” said Julian as he got up, “is that you believe your own lies,” he licked his lips, “Computer, end program.”


End file.
